Stitched buttonhole.



E. B. ALLEN.

STITGHED BUTTONHOLB.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 20,1911.

1,040,840. W Patented Oct. s, 1912.

WITNESSES: I IN VE IV TOR UNITED OFFICE.

EDWARD B. ALLEN, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE SINGERMANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

STITCHED BUTTONHOLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 8, 1912.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD B. ALLEN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Bridgeport, in the county of Fairtield and State ofConnecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inStitched l iuttonholes, of which the following is a specification,reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

In certain classes of work, it has long been common to introduce withinthe marginal overseam of the buttonhole a cord upon either or both theupper and under faces of the fabric, but owing to the protrusion fromone end of the buttonhole of the cut ends of a cord embraced by theover-seam on the face of the work, which has seriously marred itsappearance, a single cord has been commonly applied only to the underface of the fabric, notably in shoe work, a continuous cord being ledsuccessively around the buttonholes of a series upon the under face andthe part of the cord intermediate the buttonholes stitched down to thefabric by a blindstitch overseam, the cord so stitched to the fabricserving to stay the buttonhole in the part engaging the button or itsattaching stitches.

The present invention has for its object to provide the buttonhole witha cord embraced by the overseam upon the face of the fabric and anchoredbeyond the end of the buttonhole in such manner as to strengthen thesame at its eyed end or at the end which engages the button. To thisend, the but tonhole slit is provided with the usual marginal overseamwhich embraces upon the face of the fabric a cord having its oppositeextremities led through the slit to the opposite face of the fabric, andpreferably crossed within the slit and led in opposite directions uponthe under face of the fabric and secured thereto by suitable coveringstitches. By this means, the overseam is given a beadlike appearancearound the margin of the slit, the ends of the cord are not left visibleupon the face of the fabric, and the sections of cord adjacent thebuttonhole, and in practice connected with the sections of cord embracedby the adjacent buttonholes, are secured to the fabric so that the cordwithin the overseam serves to reinforce or strengthen the buttonhole atthe point subjected to the greatest strain thereon.

The invention will be understood by reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Figures 1 and 2 are perspective views representingrespectively the upper and lower faces of a portion of fabric with abuttonhole formed therein embodying the present invention.

As represented in the drawings, the fabric 1 is provided with abuttonhole slit 2 with enlarged or eyelet portion 3 whose margins arecovered by the overseam, formed in the present instance of interloopcdupper thread a and lower thread 0. The overseam illustrated is producedby a stitch-forming mechanism comprising a jogging needle in conjunctionwith threaded and non-threaded loopors. The needle makes an initialdescent through the fabric carrying with it a depth-stitch loop a. ofits thread which is detained while the needle rises and descends throughthe slit to pass an edge-stitch loop a of its thread through theprevious depthstitch loop a, the edge-stitch needle-thread loop beingentered by the threaded looper which passes through the same a loop 6 oflower thread which is distended for passage of the needle in its nextdepth-stitch thrust in which it carries the succeeding depthstitch loopthrough the fabric. The buttonhole is herein represented as of theeyelet end type, with long barring stitches .9 arranged across thenarrow end with the extremities of the stitches in alinenient with thedepth ncedle mnctures of the side stitches.

The upper or needle-thread a overlies the margin of the fabric aroundthe buttonhole slit, and interposed between the same and the upper faceof the fabric is the cord 0 which follows the contour of the buttonholeslit. The initial portion 0 of the cord is shown led along the underface of the fabric to, through and across the narrow end of thebuttonhole and along the margin of the slit upon the face of the fabric,and the terminal portion 0 of the cord is led through the finaledge-covering ovcrseam stitches through and across the slit and acrossthe initial portion 0 of the cord and in the opposite directiontherefrom upon the lower or inner face of the fabric, as represented inFig. 2, the portions of the cord emerging from the slit be ing partiallycovered by the barring stitches 8 in case the buttonhole is stayed bysuch means.

WVhile, by the means just described and the attachment of the cordsections a and 0 to the sections embraced by the oversea-m stitches ofthe adjacent buttonholes each buttonhole will be materially strengthenedat the eyelet end by the provision of the cord, the sections of cordintermediate the buttonholes are in practice housed within ablind-stitch overseam cl which serves not only to protect the same butto secure it firmly to the lower face of the fabric so that the sectionwithin each buttonhole is still more securely anchored.

In my application Serial No. 634,284 filed simultaneously herewith abuttonhole is shown with a short section of cord entirely covered andconcealed by the overseam upon the face of the fabric and with a sectionof a continuous cord connecting and embracing the slits of adjacentbuttonholes and inclosed within the overseam upon the lower face of thefabric. By this means, the covering overseam is given a beadlikeappearance around the margin of the slit upon the face of the fabric andthe buttonhole is strengthened by the continuous cord upon the underside. By the present invention, substantially the same result isproduced by the em ployment of a single cord the body of which iesWithin the. overseain upon the upper face with its extremities concealedwithin the narrow end of the slit and securely anchored upon theopposite face of the work.

The edge-covering stitches are shown in the drawings spaced fartherapart than they would be in actual practice, for the purpose ofillustration, but as actually applied, they may be much more widelyspaced than is possible in the ordinary buttonhole construction withoutdetriment to the appearance of the work. The covering stitches areherein shown and described. as of the two-thread chain-stitch type, butthe specific character of the overseam and the method of making the sameand of introducing the cord therein are obviously immaterial to thepresent in- Vention.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, w eat I claim hereinis 2-- A fabric having a stitched buttonhole formed with a slit havingan overseam eX- tending along both edges thereof, and a cord embracedwithin said ovcrseam upon one face of the fabric and having its oppositeextremities drawn through said slit and anchored upon the opposite faceof the fabric.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

EDl VARD B. ALLEN.

lVitnesses HENRY J. MILLER, HENRY A. KORNEMANN, J r.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, 1). C.

